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“Darlin’ tell me, ‘I need you’”
She crosses the space, arms already outstretched, waiting to be embraced. To be held. The room was never this big before, a wait never so long before she rests her head snuggly in her lover’s chest. James Brown’s voice fills the room, cocoons them in its warmth, and suddenly it is like the room is moving away — everything is fading, it’s floating, and it’s swaying with them in a wave of emotion that is painful, poignant, and pressing down on every side, somehow purging them of it all at the same time, and creating a release that makes it all worth the agony of feeling. If they could feel it individually, one at a time, move through it like a step-by-step dance, they wouldn’t choose that; no, they need this, need to feel it all at once, overflowing into the most bittersweet bubbling of emotion. They hold each other close, softly at first but then squeezing tightly, almost painfully at the long-awaited contact of their skin. It’s hot, soothing but burning, a burn that washes them clean, peeling off the layers that formed like calluses at their separation. That intensity —that fire— it lifts them, builds between and around them rapidly until it melds them together, flesh and soul. Unbreakable. Damaged, undeniably, yet more resilient than the storm. They know this now. Know the oneness. Know the answer. Even if they do not know the words.
“And your love will always be true.
Oh, I need you.”
She doesn’t notice the tears on her own face until she feels the wetness on Nicole’s cheeks. Now pressing her face next to hers, breathing down into her neck, their tears begin to blend. Waverly kisses her there softly, right where her jaw meets her neck, and feels the warmth bloom there, spreading through them both until it reaches their fingers and toes, urging them to move, to sway to the music.
“Hold me,
Hold me,
I want you right here, by my side.”
The feeling of being apart, of not knowing when or even if they would see each other again...it all hits them again now, with the echo of his words reverberating in their chests. To be held...they will never take it for granted again. They’ll be mad, they’ll be wrong, and they’ll probably be stubborn at times, but they decide now that they will always hold each other — never make the other face a night alone again. It is a trust they both rely on, a trust they both freely give to each other. Unwavering. Right here, by my side. Even when it gets ugly.
“...And your love, we won’t hide…”
Their fingers lace, eyes closed as Nicole now returns a lasting kiss to Waverly’s forehead. The brunette feels a smile for what feels like the first time in a lifetime— a real smile. Nicole seems to feel it too, because she pulls back only to offer more kisses: on the top of her brow, the arch of her nose, the corner of her mouth.Their foreheads connect and their breathing stills.
“...Walk with me,
Talk with me…”
She untangles her fingers from Nicole’s hand in order to lose them in her red hair, pulling her face in closer.
“I want you
to stop my heart from crying…”
Words have been failing her. She wants so badly to find something to say that could fully express how much she really does need Nicole. But she can feel that in Nicole too, that tension in her bones, even as they relax in each other’s embrace. It is in that comfort, that healing of being in each other’s presence now, finally, that allows them to give up and continue to give in to this moment. To give in to the simple words.
“...And your love, stop my heart from dying…”
“I missed you.”
They say it to each other with relief, like the words could make them take flight, because they know the possible alternative. Know how easily those words could have become a mere wish. A goodbye. Right here, it is more than a greeting; it is a promise. It means I’ll never let you go and I want my days to always have you. And maybe also, pull me closer somehow.
So they say those three words, and they sway. They dance. Slowly. To an infinite moment. To whatever song begins to play. Because it doesn’t matter. They’re together. Again. Finally.
“Oh, I need you.”